When I pulled some old UFO's for the guild retreat a few weeks ago, 15 Handles got taken, but not worked on. When I got home I decided to get down to it and finish the thing! This required making many many string sets. In fact, I sewed for days and days and really got tired of the whole thing. I made so many string sets, I had enough to make 5 columns of strings for the backing and still have a ton left over. The problem was that I kept changing my mind about what colors should be in the mix. I started with just blues and greens, but by the end, I had added purples, reds and pinks too, just to jazz it up. I also kept finding old scraps to use! Sometimes it feels like I'm drowning in scraps and just need to use them up before I can move on. So I sewed and cut and cut and sewed until I had strings to reach from here to California.

But, I'm getting ahead of myself. Take a gander at the baskets as they were to begin with.

Scrappy baskets, one with a handle missing because I forgot it. Hence, the 15 Handles. Oh, and that's a nice picture Ryan made for me adding to the general ambiance of the studio. (It's a Green Tree Python!)

I debated on whether I should just add the string border or put in a narrow inner border. The blue narrow border won out.

After what seems like forever, the top is done and so is the back which I forgot to get a photo of. It has 5 columns of strings. I still have a huge stack of strings. Enough to make another quilt for Community Quilts when I get some free time. This one will be quilted by a guild friend of mine. The thought of pushing this thing through my machine gives me the willies! I have already moved onto some other projects. More about them this week!